Thread guide



C.E. FROST.

THREAD GUIDE. APPLICATION mso Auc.15. 1922.

Pateted De.12,1922.

lil .t i "fr C2i/ARLES E. SFR ST, OTE PATEBSON, NEW JERSEY.

Application tiled .August 15, 1922. Serial No. 532,096.

means'for a number of threads being vance'l for any purpose, as in wirn ingi and the like, 2s a rail having; a series of thread-guides, usually of porcelain9 held seated upon it by springs alternating with the and consisting; of elastic wires each secured between its ends to the rail and havingits ends bearingdown upon and engaged in notches on the tops of two adjoining guides, each such guide having a central thread-guiding notch. lelf/hen the notch of any `guide becomes unduly worn by the thread the guide has to be discarded, the guide not being adapted to be .re-positioned in any way to present a fresh surface to the thread. Moreover this construction entails constant annoyance incident to the unshipping of the guides from the rail: any spring end in any way slips off one of the guides that guide will usually be thrown off the rail (which is usually re? ciprocated) and, if one guide is thus put out of commissiona one or more of the others will follow because the unshipping of e end cfany spring reduces its tension and consequently its hold on the guide at other end. The holding of the guides in place is generally rendered all the more precarious because of the necessity of spacinnthe ends of the springs on any guide well apart so as to leave ample clearance for the intervening thread.

The present invention contemplates a construction in which Jche guides be turned to present fresh surfaces to the thread when they become worn and in which the guides, though readily attachable to and removable from the rail or equivalent support, cannot become accidentally unshipped therefrom.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is a front elevation of a threadguiding` means embodying1 my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2 1: Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 illustrates one of the spring meinbers in front elevation and plan.

ci, indicates the rail, in the present exr ample being a traverse rail' adapted to be reciprocated longitudinallyvin any way on the roller bearings Z). y In its top surface this rail has a longitudinal groove c.,

The guides are indicated at CZ, being in the example illustrated spool-like members formed of any suitable material, as porcelain; as shown each has a central circumferential thread-guiding groove e and conical portions f on both sides thereof which taper toward the same, the said portions presenting surfaces which slope toward the groove thus to encourage the return of the thread to the groove should it occasionally leave the same. Each guide is formed with an axial bore g whose en ds afford bearings for the means to secure the guide to the rail.

Said means consists of springs it. Each spring` is a wire having proper elasticity and formed with a central eye it and with each extremity thereof bent first upwardly, as at 71,2, and then downwardly, as at h3, at a slight angle. rl`he springs are secured in the groove c by screws z' extending through their eyes 7b and driven into the rail, all the springs being alined. vTheir adjoining ends stand quite close together.

Each spool-like guide d is attached to the rail, the springs being` already in place by lifting the end of one spring' and inserting it in the bore of the guide and then sliding` the guide along` until the end of the adjoining spring is cleared by the guide and can be then shifted into alinement with said bore. whereupon the guide is shifted back into central relation to the two springs as shown in Fig. l. Detachment of any `guide from the rail is accomplished by a substantial reversal of these steps.

My construction obviously permits each l guide to be turned on the springs as a pivot to present a fresh bearing surface to the thread when the guide groove e becomes worn. Further7 while it is possible quite readily to attach any guide to or detach it from the rail, it can not be accidentally unshipped therefrom. Even if the guide were shifted so far laterally that one spring would be disengaged it would still be effectively held by the other.

rll`he seating' stability of each guide on the rail is insured by the groove 0 on the sides of which the rounded periphery of the guide at its ends bears as shown in Fig. 2,

Having thus fully described my invention., what claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. in combination, a support, a threadguiding member seated thereon and having opposite substantiaily central and aiined bearings, and spring means secured to the and having ends extending into the opposite ends of the bore ot said member and thereby coacting to heid the latter against its seat on the support, said member being` turnable on said means piyotally and having; exterior means vto guide the thread in any position to which it is turnabie.

3. in combination, a support, a 'thread guiding member seated thereon and having substantiaiiy central bore therethrough and exterior means to guide the thread, and spring means secured to the support and having ends extending into the opposite ends er the bore of said member and thereby coacting` to hold the latter against its seat on the support.

n combinatiom a greeted support, thread guidino1 member havn r a substantially rounded` periphe115v and seated on the support with its periphery in Contact with the sides or' the groove, and spring` meansv holding said member seated on the support and being; secured thereto, said member being tnrnabie on said means pivotaily and having exterior means toguide the thread in any position to which it is thus turned.

In testimony whereof if. afiix my signature,

CHARLES U FROST.

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